Forget Vegas, New York City Has Become The New Go-To City For Concert Residencies

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 25: Billy Joel performs at Billy Joel In Concert - New York, New York at Madison Square Garden on May 25, 2017, in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

For decades now, Las Vegas has been the city for musical residencies of all kinds. In just the past few years, the type of artist that heads to Sin City to set up shop has changed, shifting slightly from names like Elton John and Celine Dion, who sell more tickets to older crowds, to current-day pop stars like Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez and Mariah Carey, but the idea of residencies has remained a Vegas staple, and that doesn’t seem to be disappearing anytime soon.

But why should the Nevada city have all the fun and own a monopoly on musical residencies? The occasional lengthy engagement has been known to pop up from time to time in other parts of the country, but somewhat recently, another major U.S. metropolis has established itself as a serious attraction for popular artists looking to play to large crowds night after night, but who would love to forgo the rigors of traversing the country, or even the world.

New York City has seen a handful of superstars prove just how popular they are by selling out sizable venues many times over, and their presence shows that a residency can be a hit anywhere.

The contemporary trend began to pick up steam thanks to Billy Joel, who was the perfect man to declare NYC the new home of the must-see residency. The hometown hero has been playing semi-regular shows at Madison Square Garden in between other tour stops around the country on his Billy Joel In Concert trek. His first show took place in January of 2014, and ever since then, he’s returned often, playing 44 shows so far, with plenty more on the way. In fact, the venue itself officially named the piano man the first-ever music franchise of “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” placing him alongside Big Apple staples like the New York Knicks, the Rangers and the Liberty.

The announcement claims that he will put on “a show a month, as long as there is demand,” which may never end. According to a release posted on his website, the Grammy winner has already sold 800,000 tickets to his MSG concerts, and he shows no sign of slowing down.

Billy Joel’s success in New York City may not come as a total shock (though his numbers are quite impressive), but even some acts one might never think right for a residency in America’s largest city have been able to make it work. Jam band titans Phish recently wrapped their Bakers Dozen shows, and they had no difficulty selling out 13 concerts, also at Madison Square Garden. Despite the fact that the group has never scored a serious hit single, hundreds of thousands turned out this summer for the hours-long showings, and now that they’ve managed this latest accomplishment, fellow groups that maintain cult followings may attempt to repeat that feat.

Bruce Springsteen is the latest addition on the NYC residency bandwagon that seems to have piqued the interest of many an artist in the past few years. The Boss initially announced that he would play five nights a week from mid-October until late November, but it was quickly made apparent that even that many shows weren't enough to satiate the incredible demand to see one of America’s favorite rockers in a relatively intimate setting (the venue features fewer than 1,000 seats). Less than one month after Springsteen On Broadway was confirmed, it was extended until February of 2018, but tickets are still sure to sell quickly.

All three of these ventures have already been extremely successful, so there are sure to be many others that follow in the massive footsteps of Joel, Phish and Springsteen. Now, it’s just a matter of seeing who comes to stay in New York City next, and whether or not the city’s limited number of large concert arenas and venues can support the influx of superstars getting comfortable.